


The Night We Met

by AliciasClarke (fyeahgila)



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bonfire, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Past Violent Relationship, Road Trip, Shooting Guns, Stargazing, Swimming, just the aftermath of it, there isn't really any graphic violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 04:08:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10846164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fyeahgila/pseuds/AliciasClarke
Summary: John's jobbing at a diner to finance his life on the road. On his last evening there he witnesses two patrons fighting and one running out on the other. Later, he picks this man up at the roadside, taking him along on a trip and learning more about him and his violent past...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!  
> I was inspired to write this story while listening to Anna Naklab's cover of "Supergirl" by Reamonn on the radio while driving home from uni on Thursday and then just couldn't stop writing. If you don't know it, you should definitely check out the video, it's so amazing and cute! The title is taken from "The Night we met" by Lord Huron which is such a beautiful song, also check that one out if you want to :D  
> I just finished writing the story (and almost died because I thought I didn't save the last 4000 words), but only edited the first part yet, so this won't be a one, but a two-shot. Enjoy reading!

Working at some run-down diner near a freeway wasn’t exactly fun, but it was almost torture in the heat of the New Mexican summer. However, John had chosen to do this job for a week solely because he needed the money and he’d be out of here by the end of this shift anyway. Then he’d be on his way up north to Colorado where he wanted to meet some old friends and go climbing with them. 

He was living the so-called van-life, only that his vehicle was an old red Pick Up truck instead of a van and he used a throw-up tent to sleep in. This wasn’t a comfortable lifestyle, but it was something he’d wanted to do for a long time now, just go on a road trip through North America for a couple of months. He’d done so before when in college, but after he’d found a job and moved out to L.A., he just didn’t find time to do this anymore. There was always too much to do, always too much work and too much stress. Until all that bustle got too much for him, he felt overwhelmed by it and simply couldn’t stand it anymore. He needed to break out and have some of his old freedom back. So, he got the necessary equipment together, just quit his annoying 9 to 5 job, and left it all behind. Obviously, he’d saved up something before leaving for this trip, but he also couldn’t just use everything up, since he needed something to fall back on whenever he decided to go back to his old life. If that ever happened. So, when he got to the point where he had no more money left for food and gas, he’d just job somewhere for a couple of days. Mostly at diners or as a helper on a farm. 

That’s how he’d been living for the past four months and he wasn’t planning on going back home to L.A. that soon. He’d mostly been to Mexico and some of the southern states like California, Arizona, Texas so far and had ended up in New Mexico last. After Boulder, Colorado, he planned to drive up further north, maybe even up to Canada. In any case, he wanted to go to Yellowstone National Park because he’d never been there before and he thought that it would be incredibly beautiful. And he honestly couldn’t say for how long he still wanted to keep living on the road, but for now it was the most perfect thing he could imagine, even while having to clear away dirty dishes and clean tables right that moment. But it gave him a kind of freedom he hadn’t experienced in years. In contrast to being pent-up in some office building all day every day, this was just a small necessary bad that he had to endure momentarily in order to follow his dreams. Also, he’d be out of here within the next hour or so. 

Just as he was about to clean the counter, two new guests were walking into the otherwise relatively empty diner. Two guys, one a little older than John himself, maybe in his mid-thirties, the other way older, at least about fifty. They took a seat near the windows and while the older, bulkier, one was studying the menu, the younger one with ginger hair just stared onto the table top, kind of noninvolved. 

When he was done with the counter, John walked over to check if the new patrons already knew what they wanted to order. Getting closer to their table, he could literally sense the tense atmosphere between them, like they didn’t even want to be there together, but were being forced to do so. John pushed these thoughts away, because it was none of his business and he had way nicer things to muse about anyway, for example getting out of here and onto the road again very soon. 

“Good evening, gentlemen, would you like to order?”, he asked in his best customer-service voice and put on his fake-smile. 

“I’ll get a cheeseburger and a milkshake”, the older guy said. “James?”, he prompted the other man who didn’t even look up at him.

“I’m good”, he mumbled, suppressing a sigh and for some reason it was clearly obvious to John that this guy wasn’t alright at all. But he didn’t know what to do about it, probably nothing, it wasn’t his place. So, instead he said: 

“Alright, if you change your mind, or if you need anything else, just let me know”, and then went back behind the counter to let his colleague in the kitchen know to prepare a cheeseburger, while he himself was making a milkshake.

While he was mixing it, he could hear the two men over at the window argue in hushed voices. He didn’t understand a thing they were saying, but as the older grabbed the ginger one roughly by his arm, John got a bad feeling and inwardly rolled his eyes. It was less than an hour until he’d be out of here for good, he definitely didn’t need violent customers now that required him calling the cops. Couldn’t this just be a boring, uneventful evening like all the others were before? 

For the moment, he continued preparing the drink and hoped that the two men would eventually calm down again and not cause any trouble for him. As he brought over the milkshake, the customers stopped their argument immediately and at least the bulky one tried to act all casual, while the younger one just looked outright miserable. 

“Here’s your drink, the burger’s coming right up”, John meant, placing it in front of the older guy and then added towards the ginger haired man: “Would you like a cup of coffee, maybe?”, because he sure as hell looked like he could need one. 

“I’m good”, he just repeated, almost inaudible and for the first time he lifted his head a little and turned it towards John, still avoiding to directly look at him, then shifting back his gaze to the table top once more. 

But John still had seen it. The dark blue bruise running along his right jawline. And even if it could come from everything, the way these two men were behaving around each other made it painfully clear that this hadn’t just been a stupid accident. John swallowed, clenching his fist and then decided to turn around and wait for what was going to happen. If the bulky one tried to attack the other, he’d have to call the police anyway. But he didn’t just want to jump to wrong conclusions. Maybe it all had a reason, they were two guys after all, maybe they’d gotten into some bar fight. Which wouldn’t be a good sign, obviously, because that really wasn’t something John needed right at the end of his shift. 

A few minutes later, Paul, his colleague from the kitchen handed him a plate with fries and a cheeseburger to bring over to the table the two guys were sitting at, seemingly yet again in a verbal quarrel. But before John reached their table, the ginger one jumped up, shouting: 

“Just fuck off, Lee, finally leave me the hell alone, will you?!” 

Then he was out and gone, faster than John or the bulky one could even look. After a moment, the older guy seemed to be able to rip himself out of his stupor and got up, to follow after. 

“Wait a minute, sir, you’ve gotta pay!”, John called, holding up a hand to stop him. 

Annoyed, the man all but threw some money at him, picked up his jacket and then hurried out of the door as well. Just as John tried to decide what to do next, his boss walked in to hand him his paycheck. So, all he could do in this moment, was bringing the untouched burger back to the kitchen. There he got rid of his apron and exchanged a few last words with Paul. Then he said his goodbyes to the boss, before taking his check and finally leaving that diner for good. 

Outside, walking to his Pick Up, he wondered whether he should have called the police. Then again, he didn’t know the full background to this story, not even where those two men had left to. Being honest, he knew near to nothing about them and he doubted the police would act just because he was having a bad feeling. He hit the steering wheel twice in frustration, then started the engine and turned up the radio. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t do anything about it now but hope that somehow nothing bad would happen. 

Driving down the highway for just about a mile, he spotted a person walking at the roadside and recognized the ginger haired man from the diner. Without thinking about it any further, he set the blinker and pulled up next to him. At first, the guy looked at him almost shocked, then he seemed to relax the tiniest bit. 

“Hey, are you okay?”, John had unwound the window and peeked out at the man, who was still looking pretty much miserable.

"Did Lee send you?", he wanted to know, suspiciously and took a step back. Apparently he recognized John from the diner. 

"This other guy? No, he left. I thought he was after you...", John answered truthfully. 

"Did you…come to check on me?", the ginger dared to ask now, almost baffled and stared at him out of wide eyes. He looked almost boyish like that and combined with his bruised face, this sight made John’s heart ache a little. 

"I…not really, I mean…”, John started, a little taken aback by this question. “See, this was my last shift. I'm on my way up north. Then I spotted you and I just...I saw you guys back at the diner…", I saw what he did to you, he wanted to add, but didn't. "I just wanted to make sure you're alright", he said instead. 

The man outside just nodded, still looking at John a little unbelievingly. Like he couldn't understand why he was being nice to him. John didn't know it himself, but maybe he felt that he almost didn't do enough back at the diner and wanted to make things up now. He knew that he’d felt shitty if something bad had happened and he could have stopped it.  
"Do you need a ride?", he asked then, because it was already getting dark outside by now. He didn’t mind picking up hitchhikers, did it regularly. Actually, he’d been hitchhiking himself more times than he could think of during college. Mostly he met truly interesting people while doing so and he was also lucky enough to never have gotten into any shady situation so far. 

"I...uh...don’t you mind?", the ginger replied almost coyly. 

"No worries, just get in", he meant, opening the door from the inside for the other to get in. 

"I'm John, by the way", he mentioned as the other man was pulling the door shut. 

"James", he just gave back and for the first time he looked at John, directly looked him in the eyes.

John saw a lot of uncertainty, sadness, hurt in the other's blue eyes and smiled at him, trying to be cheerful. James was a handsome guy, with his ginger locks and stubbles, even with these bruises and a fading scar at the right side of his brow. John didn’t even want to know where this came from, so he busied himself with looking into the rearview mirror, checking the traffic. 

"So, what brought you 'round here?", he asked as he was setting the blinker and started driving on. 

"A road trip", James just said, short-spoken. 

"Really? Where to? I'm also on a road trip", John told, trying to make some small-talk in the hope that the other man would relax. 

"Not quite sure...Lee was just driving about", he answered, sounding crestfallen just thinking about that. 

"You and he...is he your partner?", John dared to ask after a few silent moments, knowing that maybe it would be rude, but he just wanted to know. 

"I think he was for the longest time...I don't want to go back to him", James admitted in a quiet voice that was almost breaking at the end and John wondered if his passenger was holding back tears. 

"You don't have to…just tell me where to get you, I'll take you there", he offered because he was sensing a person in need here. 

"It's uh...it's complicated", James gave back and now John could hear that he was fighting hard not to start crying.

"Do you want to stop somewhere, get a drink, something to eat maybe?", John asked and after a while James just nodded lightly. 

So, they kept on driving in silence for a while, though John could hear James snuffling a little every now and then, until they reached the next fast food restaurant. Inside, they both ordered a large coffee, John chose a grilled cheese sandwich as well. While waiting for their order, John smiled at James lightly, who tried his best mirroring it, but failed at it, more or less. Though, John couldn’t hold it against him, only imagining what had happened between him and that other guy. 

“Not hungry much?”, he said and James just shook his head in denial, mumbling something inaudible. 

“Where are you headed to?”, he asked after they’d gotten their coffee and almost surprised John by doing so. 

“I got some friends up in Colorado. Haven’t seen them in a while. We wanna go climbing”, John told, glad that James didn’t behave like a deer in the headlights anymore, because he never knew how to handle such situations. 

“Are you one of these cracks, living out of their car, just living for the climb then?”, James wanted to know and John could swear he sounded a little amused. 

“As a matter of fact, I’m not”, John replied, laughing. “But…I’ve got a buddy who’s friends with Alex Honnold. Met him once, great kid…so, you’re familiar with that lot as well?” 

“I used to know someone…he was a great guy as well. He fell and died…”, James told, grimacing at the memory and took a big sip of his coffee. 

“I’m sorry”, John offered and James just shrugged. They all knew the risks. 

“But you’re living on the road right now?”, he went on asking after a moment. 

“Yeah, have been for the past four months. And I don’t intend to go back to L.A. that soon”, John meant, just as his grilled cheese sandwich was brought over. 

“That’s where you’re from?”, James wanted to know then. 

“Nah, I’m from Georgia, originally”, he replied, taking a bite of his food. 

“I thought I recognized that accent somewhere”, James meant, joking for the first time since they’d met and John rolled his eyes in mock-annoyance. 

“Where are you from?”

“My folks are on the east coast, New Jersey. Haven’t been back there since college…I’ve been living here and there, D.C., Seattle…until I met Lee, and…”, here he had to stop himself, his voice close to breaking once more and John felt bad for bringing him down again. 

“I’m sorry, I…”, he started to apologize, but James just held up a hand, signalizing that it was okay. 

“It’s not your fault. If anything, I’ve got to thank you for taking me along”, the ginger one meant, honestly looking grateful. 

“Don’t mention it. Driving for hours can be almost therapeutically sometimes but it can also get really boring, so…I’m used to picking up hitchhikers”, John told and James seemed to relax again, only for the moment, though. 

“Truth is, I don’t really have anywhere to go, nowhere that I could easily think of anyway…”, he admitted then, fidgeting with his cup. “I don’t want to cause any inconvenience for you. You’re a good guy, John, by now I know one when I see one.” 

“What about your folks on the east coast?”, he suggested, not completely sure what else he could offer. They’d only just met, barely knew each other, after all. 

“They’re Irish, catholic. And I’m…I’m just a fag, you can do the math”, the other suppressed a sigh, running a hand over his face. 

“We’ll figure something out, okay?”, John proposed, not really finding a better solution for the moment. “You said you were on a road trip too, right? Care to just join me for now?”, he added, not quite sure what the other would think of it. But it was the only plan he had right now. 

“I’ve got some money, so…I could also just, you know, go to a motel”, James mused. 

“Oh…so, you want me to drop you off at the next motel?”, John replied, feeling oddly disappointed about the prospect of leaving his new companion behind again that soon. 

“No”, James shook his head to underline his statement. “I’ve got to get further away from here. Lee will be looking for me.”

“Okay, then…you’ll join me on the road?”

“As long as you’ll have me”, James agreed and then paid for their orders before they left the diner to hit the road again. 

 

They kept driving, mostly in silence just listening to some station playing country rock, for another hour or so until they reached a lake near Santa Rosa and decided to camp out there for the night. 

“I don’t really think we’ll both fit that tent, it’s quite small”, John considered as they got out of the car and he lighted his camping lamp. “But I’ve got enough blankets and stuff, so we can just crash on the bed of the car.”

“No worries, that’s fine with me”, James returned and they busied themselves spreading the camping mattress and blankets in the back. 

After John had brushed his teeth, using a little bottled water as most days, he went over to the lake where James was standing quietly, looking out into the darkness. The waxing moon was being reflected on the surface of the lake and there were crickets chirring somewhere close by. 

“It’s real nice out here”, James commented after a while where they’d just been standing next to each other, enjoying the silence. 

“It is”, John agreed and then added: “I’m glad you’re here with me.”

“You are?”, James asked, sounding surprised. 

He sighed a little. “Earlier…back at the diner…I just knew that something was off. And I was afraid that I…I’d just done nothing. I could do nothing. That didn’t feel right, you know.”

“You’ve done more than anyone did in a long time”, James admitted quietly and looked down to his feet. 

“How long’s this been going on?”, John returned, just as quietly, fearing that this wasn’t his place to ask and that this probably would be rude, considering they knew each other for all but a couple of hours. 

“Too long…”, now it was James who sighed. “I just haven’t been brave enough…”, he just let the sentence finish there, apparently not sure how to continue. 

“You were brave back then…you just told him to fuck off and left”, John assured him and looked over at him, not able to make out much more than his contour in the pale moonlight. 

“I should have done that a long time ago”, he meant, starting to kick some small rocks towards the water. 

“You did now”, John reassured him once again because it was the only thing he thought he could do. 

“Is it weird that I miss him? I mean…not him…maybe the person he used to be once…”, James suddenly said, still kicking at some stones to his feet. 

“I don’t think so”, John mused, stuffing his hands into his pockets. 

“You’re just saying that to make me feel less pathetic, aren’t you?”, James returned and John was actually glad that he sounded like he was joking.

“I think that for two people to get together, it requires you to really, really like something about each other…more than you like about anyone else”, he gave back, trying to make out James’s face in the darkness. 

“Maybe you’re right”, he agreed, shrugging. 

“I’m always right”, John replied smugly and smiled when he heard James chuckle a little. “I’m gonna sleep now”, he added then, turning back towards his car.

“Okay…I’ll just…stick around here for a little longer”, the other man answered. 

“Okay. Goodnight, James.”

“Goodnight, John.”

 

When he woke to birds singing the next morning, he found James lying beside him on the bed of his Pick Up, huddled into one of the blankets. Asleep, he looked peaceful and less troubled than he had been the night before. He also appeared way younger like that. John allowed himself to look at his companion for a short while, realizing once more that he was indeed pretty handsome. The early morning sun made his ginger hair burn like copper and his face was laced with freckles. Just as John turned away to get up, James stirred in his sleep and was about to wake up. Quickly, John sat up, trying to kick away his blanket, before James realized that he’d been staring at him. 

“Morning”, a sleepy voice mumbled and as John finally entangled himself from the blankets, he turned to meet blue eyes. 

“Hi”, he breathed out, a little surprised at himself for finding James quite cute looking with his messed hair. 

Then he smiled at him and watched James return the smile while sitting up and stretching his arms. John couldn’t quite pinpoint the feeling he was having right then, but it was nice, waking up and not being alone in the middle of nowhere, but having someone else around, someone who was truly looking adorable with that messed up bed hair. Obviously, he couldn’t know this, but maybe, just maybe, James was having a similar thought, because he was looking at John quite baffled and it somehow made him feel a little self-conscious. 

“What?”, he therefore asked and grinned a little to ease that weird atmosphere that had spread between them. 

“I just...nothing”, James stammered and blushed a little around the nose. 

“How did you sleep?”, John asked to change the subject. 

“A little hard, but...better than in days”, James returned, kicking his blanket away. 

“It needs some getting used to it”, John agreed, jumping off the back of his car and rummaged for his toiletry inside his huge backpack. “You need some mouthwash or stuff?”, he asked James who was just buckling up his jeans. 

“Thanks. Probably we should stop at a drug store later, I should buy some things”, James returned, taking the bottle of mouthwash from John. 

“I was thinking about getting breakfast somewhere over in Santa Rosa. Then we could also look for your things”, John suggested after having used the lake as best as he could for a morning shower. 

“Sounds like a plan”, James agreed, drying his face with one of the small travel towels John had lent him.

“Could use to buy a razor as well”, he added then, rubbing his stubbly chin. 

“I think stubble suits you”, John heard himself say without even thinking about what he actually was uttering. James gave him a perplex look and at least John had the decency to blush and shift his gaze towards his backpack. 

“Uh...thanks, I guess?”, James returned after an awkward moment where he’d busied himself folding the blankets and laughed a little insecure laugh. 

“So...let’s get some breakfast, shall we?”, John suggested as a reply and James just nodded eagerly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot to everyone who's reading this, it really means so much to me :)

They left Santa Rosa about an hour and a half later after a stop at some diner and a drug store. While driving further up north towards the interstate boarder to Colorado, they were listening to a rock music station, discussing their favorite bands and concerts they’d been to, finding out that they both quite enjoyed 80s rock.

“Man, don’t make me jealous about seeing the Stones live, the coolest thing I can come up with is probably AC/DC”, John whined in mock-anger. 

“See, that’s a band I haven’t seen for example”, James gave back, chuckling. John decided that he liked when James did that and had to refrain himself from smirking about it. 

“What’s a band you’re owning some records of but don’t like admitting it?”, he asked instead. 

“Like my guilty pleasure?”, James laughed.

“Yeah, that”, John agreed, also laughing. 

“Uhm, I guess...Fleetwood Mac, probably?”, his passenger admitted a little unsure and John started laughing even more.

“What?”, James complained. 

“Nothing, they’re great”, John said. 

“They are...just a little soft”, James agreed. 

“That’s what I was thinking too.” 

“Of course, you would, you said your favorite is Van Halen”, James meant almost matter-of-factly.

“They’re the best”, John nodded, grinning. 

“So, what’s your guilty pleasure band then?”, James wanted to know, unwinding the window a little more because noon was coming up and it was getting hot inside the old Pick Up. 

“I’d say...Bon Jovi, maybe. Like...they’re great and all, but also kinda boring, you know what I mean?” 

“Yeah, I guess”, James nodded. 

“I actually got ‘Have a nice Day’ in the glove box along with some other stuff...if you’re getting tired of the radio”, he explained.

“The radio’s fine with me. But if you want to listen to anything else, just let me know”, James meant.

“Just look through my records if you like and choose anything”, John suggested and so James opened the glove box, curiously peeking inside. What he found there weren’t only papers and CDs, though, but also a Glock. 

“You’ve got a gun”, James stated. 

“I do. Is that a problem?” 

“I don’t know, why do you have it?”

“Have you ever been on a road trip on your own?”, John asked back and James shook his head in denial. 

“Well...I’ve heard some pretty wild stories from people I met. So, I figured that I better wanted to be safe than sorry, you know”, John explained.

“Yeah, I understand. Did you ever have to use it?”

“Not yet, luckily. To be honest, I’ve never fired a real gun”, he admitted.

“Never? But you own one? Don’t you figure you should know how to handle it?”, James said, almost surprised. 

“Actually, I didn’t...I don’t intend using it, it’s just to scare people away, just in case…”

“But what if you encountered some bad guys and had to use it?”, James wanted to know.

“Well, I guess I’d figure it out...or I’d be fucked”, John said.  
“I can show you”, the other suggested.

“How to handle it?”

“Yeah...my grandfather told me when I was a kid”, James told.

“He did?”

“He was fighting in WWI, later, when there were first signs of a second war, they emigrated here. My father told me he swore he’d never touch a weapon again, but he had a thing for handguns”, James remembered. 

“But your family thought it was okay to teach a kid how to handle a gun?”, John asked, almost shocked.

“You don’t know my father, he actually was thrilled about the perspective that my brothers and I would be able to shoot at stuff…” 

“How many siblings do you have?”, John wanted to know.

“Two brothers, both older than me, and a little sister”, he told.

“But you aren’t in touch with them anymore?”, John assumed from what James had said the day before.

“My brothers are totally our father’s sons...they...always gave me shit, even when we were little. I’m pretty much dead for them…”

“What about your sister?”

“My sister’s somewhere in New Zealand working for a company there. I’m calling her on her birthday and she’s sending me Christmas cards, that’s about it…”, James sighed. “What about you, any siblings?” 

“Nope, I’m an only child. It was hella boring sometimes as a kid. My parents would never have allowed me to handle a gun”, John laughed at the bare imagination of it. Probably they’d have completely lost their shit. 

“Well, I can teach you if you want me to”, James offered again.

“Sure, why not. Let’s drive for another bit and look for a place offside the road where we can stay. There’s pretty much no one around anyway”, John meant and they continued their drive, listening to a Metallica record that James had put into the player. 

 

“Fancy some cooling-down?”, John asked half an hour later when they already were in Colorado.

“Hmm?”, James, who’d leaned his head against the side of the car and was napping a bit, just mumbled.

“There was a sign that said that there’s a lake somewhere around in 5 miles”, John announced. 

“Okay”, James just gave back, not very impressed. 

“Come on, it’s damn hot, don’t you think so?”, John said with excitement. 

“Yeah, fine. Just let’s set up camp there then”, James agreed. 

“Awesome”, John was already looking forward to it. 

Ten minutes later they’d found it and parked close to one of its sandy shores. It wasn’t as big as the lake near Santa Rosa where they’d camped at the night before, and there wasn’t a single other soul around. But it was quite beautiful, some foothills of the Rocky Mountains already visible in the distance. As soon as he’d left the car, John started pulling off his t-shirt and jeans, threw them into the trunk of the car and just run into the water, dressed only in his underpants. 

“Woah, okay that’s amazing!”, he shouted over at James who was still standing at the shore, fully dressed. “Aren’t you coming in?”

“Nah, thanks”, he just declined. 

“Why, it’s brilliant!”

“I’m good here”, James meant, stepping out of his shoes and rolling up his jeans to walk into the narrow water, while John shrugged and started swimming a few meters away. 

When he had enough of this refreshment for the moment, John waded out of the lake to get a towel and then went over to where James was sitting in the brown sand. As he was approaching him, James quickly averted his gaze and John became aware that he’d been starring at his abs. He grinned a little at the thought of James checking him out, but he didn’t quite know what to make of it. Though, he guessed that he quite liked it, considering that James was a looker himself. Then he threw his towel in the sand to lie down on his stomach, head prepped on his arms, but face turned towards the other man. 

“You okay?”, he asked James, who was just quietly staring out over the lake now. 

“Ya...just didn’t feel like taking a swim”, he returned in an almost coy voice. 

“It’s fine. Though, it was really great”, John said, smiling. 

When he had dried, and rested enough, John sat up, watching the nature around them in silence. It was peaceful and mostly untouched. Probably not that many people came around here. Then again, they were at least fifty miles away from any bigger settlement. 

“I wish there was an ice cream truck”, he sighed after a while.

“I’d second that”, James agreed. 

“Well, I could offer some cookies...and those sandwiches we got this morning. As well as a couple cans of beans and some rice”, John meant, shuddering at the thought. That was probably the only disadvantage about living on the road. Canned foods. But always going someplace to eat was too expensive on the long run. “I also got like half a bottle of Jack Daniels left”, he added. 

“Sounds better”, James laughed. “Something to run down the beans.”

“That’s the spirit”, John said, laughing as well. “So, about that gun...will you show me how to fire it?”

“Now?”

“Yeah, I just need to get dressed”, John meant and got up to throw on his t-shirt and a pair of shorts he pulled out of his backpack. Then he opened the glove box and picked up the Glock. He’d almost forgotten how heavy it lay in his hands. He also took the pack of ammo he’d gotten for it. 

“Is it loaded?”, James wanted to know when they were standing together a little off the shore. 

“It came with ammo, yeah”, John recalled and handed him the weapon. 

It only took him a few experienced movements of the hand to pull out the ammo, then he handed it back to John. 

“You know how to load it?”

“Not really”, he admitted, feeling kind of dumb. What was he even thinking just getting himself a weapon and then not wasting a single other thought about it anymore?

“It’s not that tough, just watch”, James explained ad then demonstrating it for John to follow, before unloading it again and letting him have a try. 

“I got it”, John said after a moment and held the gun up to show.

“Good. So...do you have anything to shoot at? An empty can, or…”

“I’ve got an empty water bottle”, he offered, walking over to the car to retrieve it. 

“That fits well enough”, James commented, looking around for somewhere to place it and deciding for a crutch in a tree about seven or eight meters away. 

“Do you know how to unlock it?” 

“Yeah, I’ve tried that before”, John replied and unlocked the safety. 

“Okay, let’s have a go then!”

He lifted his right arm, trying to focus on the bottle on the tree. It was quite hard to keep still enough and it took him a while to figure out when the right moment to pull the trigger would be. Eventually he just did, the bullet missing widely, just startling a bunch of birds that flew away, frightened. 

“Are you trying to randomly shoot one of these poor birds?”, James laughed. 

“What, no!”, John gave back, feigning outrage. “It’s just hard to take aim!”

“Well, no wonder, you’re holding it completely wrong. Like one of these movie stars, it’s quite hilarious if you ask me”, James was still laughing. 

“Okay, then show me”, John sighed and glared at him in mock-annoyance. 

James took the weapon and got in position. He was holding the gun up with both arms, his head leaned down to his right shoulder. He remained like this for a while, finding his focus, completely relaxed and motionless, looking like he’d done this a million times before. Then he pulled the trigger and in the next moment the bottle fell from its place on the crutch. 

“Wow, that was impressive!”, John shouted out in excitement, all but running over and picking the bottle up so that he could have another go. 

“Took me a while to figure it out”, James admitted, smiling as he handed him back the gun. “Your turn!” 

This time, John held it in both hands, leaning his head down as James had done and tried not to move in any way. 

“You could put your right arm a little higher”, James instructed and stepped closer to his side to put one hand on John’s wrist, the other on his shoulder to move him into the correct position. 

“Like that. It should be easier that way”, James said, still standing close and making it quite hard to focus on the bottle. 

“Can I breathe?”, John aspirated, his arms shaking a little. Why was James making him feel like he was made of jello? He shook his head to get some focus back again. 

“Not the moment you’re pulling the trigger, no”, James meant and finally took a step back. “Just try to be calm.”

John only nodded in return and then shifted his aim back to the bottle. He was standing exactly like James had instructed him to and then held his breath while pulling the trigger. This time was better. He didn’t hit the bottle, but the tree right next to it. 

“That was well done, you just need a little more practice”, James complimented him. 

“I wanna try again”, John said, getting into position once more. This time, he actually managed to hit the target which fell down into the grass. 

“Did you see that?!”, he cheered, feeling as excited as he was as a kid when managing a home-run in baseball. 

“That was awesome!”, James was patting his back appreciatory and John felt quite proud of himself because he’d only needed three tries. 

“Thanks for showing me”, he meant, locking the weapon. 

“Don’t mention it. With some more practice, you could become quite a great shot”, James gave back, smiling. John decided that he also liked James’s smile, it was good to see him happy after what he’d witnessed the day before. 

“Do you wanna have a drink?”, he asked then. It was early evening by now and they would be staying here for the night. 

“Maybe something to eat first”, James replied. 

So, they went back to the car, got out the sandwiches and settled down in the back of the Pick Up, looking out onto the lake. They ate in silence and afterwards James didn’t lose too many words either. He seemed to be deeply lost in thoughts, so John let him be for the moment and lay down onto one of the blankets, staring up into the deep blue sky. John almost dozed off a little, but then he heard James sniffle and it sounded like he was about to break out in tears, so he turned on his side, looking at him mildly concerned. 

“James?”, he asked quietly, while the other tried to stop his tears with his hands. “You wanna talk about it?”, John offered instead of asking if he was okay, because it was clearly obvious that he wasn’t. 

James rubbed at his eyes for another while and then finally nodded lightly. So, John sat up, waiting for the other to say something. It took him another few minutes, then he looked over at John out of red-rimmed eyes. 

“I…”, he started, his voice breaking and he had to clear his throat before going on. “It’s just…I wanted to do this with Lee. I mean, a road trip. He said that…if we just got away for a while…things could get better. And I believed it, I wanted to…and now…”, here he had to stop himself, wiping away another onset of tears.

John rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a pack of tissues, handing them to James wordlessly. The ginger man just nodded at him gratefully, taking one. 

“And now, I don’t even know where he is…”, he finished his sentence. 

“He can’t find you, though. There’s no way he can find you”, John meant in an attempt to calm him down. 

“No, he can’t. I forgot my phone in his car”, he laughed a humorless laugh. 

“But you hope for him to find you?”, John asked in disbelief. 

“God, no. It’s just odd, you know. It’s been five years…you don’t just walk out of something like that and be done with it”, James explained, rubbing his eyes once again. 

“I know”, John nodded in understanding and he truly did. 

His last relationship, one of two years with a girl he honestly loved, ended in shreds and his heart broke from one moment to the next when walking in on her with another guy. After that, he’d had some flings but nothing more than that. On some particularly desperate days, he even was certain that he still loved her, wanted to forgive her, but deep down he knew that he’d never be able to because she’d hurt and disappointed him too much. 

“It’s just…now I’m here with you, on a road trip, when actually I wanted to do this with him. It’s weird but it just made me realize that…all that time, I gave him all that time and he never changed. While out there…there are…nice, honest, men…”, he stopped here, looking away from John, no longer able to hold his gaze. 

John wasn’t quite sure what to reply to this. If there even was anything he could say. So, he just took the bottle of whiskey and held it out to James. 

“You look like you could need a drink”, he commented and had to stop himself from grinning because it sounded like such a cliché. 

Wordlessly he reached for it and took a long sip. Then he handed it back to John who did the same. They kept drinking in companionable silence for quite some time. The sun was standing deeper now, closer to setting and despite that it had been a really hot day, it got chillier outside. Eventually John got up to change into his pair of sweatpants and when he climbed back up onto the bed of his car, he brought the pack of cookies with him that he’d stowed away in the driver’s cab. 

“I thought you might want some”, he held the pack out to James.

“Which ones are they?”, he wanted to know, his eyes still red. 

“Macadamia nuts and cranberries…the only ones not melting in these temperatures”, John explained with a grin. “Hope you’re not allergic or something.”

“I’m not”, James clarified and took one of the cookies, giving John a little grateful smile. 

That’s how they ended up drinking Jack Daniels and eating cookies, just watching the sun set behind some hills. When it got too dark to properly see anymore, John turned on the camping lamp and they spread out some more blankets to eventually lie down on. By now he was way too tired to get up again, also the alcohol seemed to make him even sleepier. Apparently James felt similarly because he shrugged off his jeans and then just covered himself with a blanket, lying down next to John. For a while they stayed like that, neither saying a word, just lying there, staring into the sky. 

“Could you turn the light off?”, James asked. “So we could see the stars more clearly.” 

“Of course”, he gave back, switching the lamp off. “Makes you feel so small, right?”, he added, almost in awe of the billions of stars above their heads. It was so incredibly dark out where they were, that one could see Milky Way like you usually knew it just from pictures and National Geographic documentaries. 

“It’s fascinating”, James agreed. “When I was a boy, I wanted to be an astronaut. I’ve always been fascinated by stars and planets and universes…”, he added. 

“And, did you become an astronaut?”, John asked, half-jokingly. 

“Turned out I sucked at math”, James meant, almost regretfully. “I’m a blogger and freelancing journalist. Sometimes I like to say I’m an author, just because I write poems or short stories every now and then”, he told and John could hear that he was grinning. 

“I’d say that counts. What are you writing about?”, John wanted to know. 

“Stuff and things...no, really just about life. Things that happen to one every day in ordinary life…” 

“Could I read some of these poems or stories?”, John went on questioning because he was intrigued now. 

“Would you want to?”, James asked, almost surprised as if he didn’t believe John would actually be interested in his writing. 

“Sure, I’d love to”, he confirmed. 

“I’ve got some on my blog. You’ve got your phone with you, I suppose?”

“Yeah, but we’ve gotta wait until tomorrow, battery’s empty and I need to start the car engine to load it”, he explained, cursing for the umpteenth time that he didn’t have one of those solar chargers. 

“No worries, they won’t walk away”, James was joking. “So, what did you want to be as a kid, did you become it?”, he added then and made John laugh. 

“I’ve wanted to be a pirate. Or a superhero...But turns out I’m neither badass enough to be a pirate, nor do I have any superpowers, unless you count dealing with various weird clients. I’ve been working for a tech company for the last couple years”, John explained, still a little amused. 

“Superhero, hm? Which one?”, James wanted to know, chuckling. 

“Uhm...I’ve always liked Batman. But actually he doesn’t have any superpowers, not really. Just great equipment. So, I think Superman is also pretty cool, right, I mean who doesn’t wanna be able to fly?”

“Actually I’m afraid of flying”, James admitted. “I hate taking the plane…” 

“Okay, so what would be your superpower then, if you don’t like flying?”, John joked. 

“Sometimes I’d...I’d like to make myself invisible”, James mused and it actually sounded incredibly sad. 

“Why that?”, John asked, not joking anymore now. 

“Just...to get away from things...situations...people”, James sighed and in the pale light of the moon and the stars, John could see him put his hands over his face. 

“And other times I think that I already am…invisible”, he continued and for a few moments after that, neither of them said a word. 

John was searching for something he could say, some comfort he could offer to make James feel a little better. He sounded so broken and vulnerable, that actually the only reasonable thing John could think of, was hugging him, but he didn’t dare to. 

“You’re not invisible for me, you know”, is what he finally settled for, turning on his side to look at the other one. “I see you.”

He truly meant it, though figuratively, of course, because right now he couldn’t see all too much of James, but his shape. And his eyes, as he also turned on his side. His eyes, shining with tears in the moonlight. 

“Thanks…”, he whispered, his voice still close to breaking. “I mean...for everything”, he added. 

“No problem”, John said quietly, smiling lightly. 

“I’m glad I met you”, James continued, wiping away some tears again. 

“I’m glad I met you, too”, he returned. “Travelling by myself is nice, but can be lonely too. When I’m somewhere where there aren’t many people around...today with you was fun”, John remarked. 

“It was”, James endorsed. 

“God, I’m so tired I cannot keep my eyes open”, John mentioned, yawning. 

“Sleep then”, James suggested and John was glad that his voice actually sounded a little amused now. 

“Are you good?”, he asked instead of just saying goodnight right now. 

“I guess I will be, eventually”, James returned and John thought that was good enough for the moment. 

“You will”, he gave back with certainty, although of course he couldn’t know that. But he hoped it. 

“Goodnight, John”, James meant after a few silent moment. 

“You too, James. Sleep well”, he replied and then was taken over by sleep almost instantly. 

 

The next morning, John woke up to find James gone. For a moment he was confused and also a little worried, but then he spotted him over at the lake, standing in almost hip-deep water just dressed in his underpants.  
It felt almost silly how relieved he was about James being still there and seeming to be alright, while taking a morning swim. It wasn’t like he could just disappear in thin air, there probably wasn’t a village in a fifty mile radius and as far as he remembered even the next gas station was still ten miles to go.  
He kicked his blankets away and stretched before getting up and wandering over to the sandy shore. 

“Morning!”, he called out to James who was about 15 meters away, just swimming about, and waved at him. 

“Morning!”, James called back, lifting an arm up out of the water in greeting, while John pulled off his t-shirt and pants to jump into the lake as well. 

The water was still a bit chilly, but it made him feel fully awake at once. He paddled over to where James was floating. 

“Hi”, he said, smiling.

“Hey”, James returned, mirroring his smile. 

For a second, John felt the desire to just get closer and kiss the other man, but it was a fleeing thought and he dismissed it as quickly as it had come. Without warning, he started splashing water at James’s face, who exclaimed in surprise. After the initial shock moment, he started splashing back and then they were both wildly laughing and splashing water at each other like young boys, until they both could barely breath and stay over water anymore. 

“You’re an idiot”, James told him, good-naturedly, as they were swimming back to the shore again. 

“As are you”, John returned and splashed another handful of water at him, that James gracefully ignored. 

When they got to narrower water again, they could stand up and walk the remaining meters. John was out first, grabbing some towels, but when he wanted to hand one to James, he almost let it drop. 

It turned out that the bruise on his jawbone wasn’t the only one he was spotting. There was also one above his collarbone, reaching back to his shoulder. It was dark blue and almost made John cringe in pain just from looking at it. Now it also became clear to him why James had behaved so oddly the day before and hadn’t gone swimming. And maybe now he just had went into the water in the hope that John would still be asleep until he was done...

“What did he do to you?”, he got out, barely audible, stepping closer, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“It’s okay”, James just meant, taking the towel John was offering him and wrapped it around his upper body. 

“It doesn’t look okay. That must fucking hurt...how could you even swim?” 

“Cold water helps”, James just shrugged. “It was dislocated…”, he added quietly, wrapping the towel closer around himself as if it would protect him. 

“When did this happen?”, John dared to ask, as they were sitting on the rack of his car, getting dry in the morning sun. 

“Last week…”

“You went to the hospital?” 

“I told them I fell down the stairs”, James explained. “Lee was there with me…acting like he cared”, he added, his voice angry now. 

“Does it still hurt?”, John wanted to know, looking at him a bit concerned. 

“A little.”

“And here?”, John gestured at James’s jawline, stopping his hand centimeters before he’d touch his face, but then decided to rather put his hand down again. 

“It’s okay”, James repeated and John didn’t quite know whether or not he only meant his level of pain. 

“We should stop by a pharmacy, maybe get some gel for it”, John suggested then. 

“I’m fine, John. You don’t need to do this”, James declined, almost a little embarrassed. 

“Maybe I want to, though”, John gave back.

“You’re doing enough as it is”, James insured him. 

“Okay”, he finally nodded. 

“Can we get some breakfast, though? I’m starving”, James said then, easing that odd tension that had spread between them once more.

“Sure, get dressed and we’re on the way”, John meant, almost jumping up to collect his clothes. 

 

The next settlement they came to was Colorado City, a small town, according to John’s satnav about 3 hours away from Boulder, at least if they chose to stay on the freeway. 

“How about a little detour via Cañon City and the National Forests? Someone I once met told me it’s nice going hiking there”, John suggested sometime after they’d had breakfast and stopped at a gas station. 

“You want to go hiking?”, James, who was now dressed in one of the cheap t-shirts he’d bought at the gas station, wanted to know. 

“If you don’t mind? I heard it’s nice out there”, John replied, shrugging. 

“No, I don’t mind, I’m just wondering about our equipment”, James said. 

“It won’t be a day-long tour. Just a couple miles? We’ll be alright”, John explained.

“Okay, then let’s do this”, James agreed and John drove off the freeway at the next possible exit, going west instead. 

“How about stopping at the Royal George Bridge?”, John asked, as they passed a sign, announcing that they were about 15 miles away from this tourist attraction.

“I never heard of that before, is it worth it?”, James asked.

“I love watching documentaries...it’s that giant bridge built over a canyon and it’s just breathtaking...well, unless you’re afraid of heights. You aren’t afraid of heights, are you?”, John told him, sounding really excited. 

“I’m not. Just because I don’t like flying doesn’t mean I’m afraid of heights”, James laughed. 

So, half an hour later they’d parked the car on the parking lot with a dozen of others and were standing right in the middle of that impressive bridge, staring down into the Arkansas River. 

“How high did you say this was?” James wanted to know, rather letting his gaze wander about the canyon around instead of the river below. 

“They said almost 300 meters, it was the highest bridge in the world once”, John remembered. 

“You sound like citing from Wikipedia”, James remarked, grinning. 

“Can’t one like a good documentary?”, John gave back in mock-annoyance. 

“I think it’s adorable”, James said then and took John a little by surprise. 

“What?”, he asked, kind of baffled. 

“That you know that stuff”, James meant. 

“Did you just call me adorable?”, John wanted to know, not able to hide his grin. 

“Maybe...your knowledge, at least”, James clarified, not without grinning as well. 

As they were standing on the once highest bridge in the world, grinning at each other like love-struck teenagers, once more John just really wanted to kiss James. But he was too coward to act on it, telling himself it wasn’t okay after what James had went through just days before. So he turned away from him instead, looking down into the grey river almost 300 meters below their feet. 

After they’d bought some more food and drinks - it turned out that James actually had his credit card with him, which was a blessing because that way John didn’t have to calculate how much he still had left - they arrived at some camping place in the National Forests in the early evening. There wasn’t a lake around this time, but at least there were some public bathrooms. 

Apart from them, there were only two camping vans and a hand full of backpackers and their tents occupying the place. The backpackers were a bunch of college kids, talking about finding wood for a bonfire, while one was sitting around, playing on his guitar. They smelled like they’d been smoking weed and John was reminded of his own adventures like that from about ten years ago.  
The people with the camping vans turned out to be two elderly couples who’d been friends for forty years and who regularly went on camping trips together all over North and South America. 

“So, you two are friends, or…?”, one of the college girls asked them later, offering them a joint, which they both declined. They’d invited them to sit on the bonfire with them, the two elderly couples had politely excused themselves, but John and James had figured why not. 

“Uhm...actually we just met a few days ago”, John said. 

“Really? I had the impression you knew each other quite well”, the girl named Haley gave back, almost in surprise. 

“I guess...that comes from spending time on the road with someone. There’s a lot of time to talk about stuff”, James meant, when John didn’t know what to answer. 

Did they really come across like two people who knew each other pretty well? It felt weird to John that random people would think that. 

“Yeah, that’s true, I mean Joanna and I met you guys like last week, or what?!”, a boy who’d introduced himself as Kyle and who was Joanna’s boyfriend, threw in, directed at Haley. “And I mean look at us now!” 

“I guess you’re right”, Haley agreed. 

They stayed at the bonfire for another while, Kyle playing some classics and old country songs on his guitar. They were passing some alcohol around and told little funny stories about their travels, until eventually everyone got too tired. Two of the college kids still stayed at the bonfire, while everyone else was retrieving. Also John and James walked over to the red Pick Up that was parked a little further down, away from the other vehicles. 

“Thanks for picking me up from the road the other day”, James told him as they were both lying in the bed of the Pick Up again, facing each other in the orange light of the camping lamp. Both too tired to stay up far longer, but also not willing yet to let this day be over. It had been even more fun than the day before and John didn’t want this to end. 

“Don’t mention it, really. It’s been a blast. I really...it’s fun spending time with you”, John gave back, smiling a little. 

“What...what’s happening when we get to Boulder tomorrow and you meet your friends?”, James dared to ask, almost sounding rueful. 

“They’re a great lot. Do you want to stay with me for...some more time? They won’t mind”, John explained. 

“I’d love to. I mean...I know that I need to go back to Houston, eventually. Get my stuff from Lee’s apartment, get my own place...But, actually I’d like nothing more than to stay away from there for as long as possible”, James admitted. 

“Good. We can arrange that”, John grinned. And then, without even thinking further of it, he added: “Do you want me to come with you to Houston? To get your stuff?”

“You cannot do this”, James gave back, baffled. 

“I’m offering, though”, John argued.

“Lee will hurt you, too”, James went on, sounding scared. 

“He won’t”, John meant. 

“You don’t know him”, the ginger man said, sighing. 

“He doesn’t know me either”, John returned, almost stubborn. 

“Why are you willing to do this for me?”, James wanted to know then. 

“Because...I like you. And…maybe also because I do fancy you?”, he admitted and stopped himself there, not daring to directly look at James and took a deep breath, before going on. “And I know this...this isn’t a good time or whatever, but...I, I just wanted you to know that...I’ll help you if you want me to”, John declared, finally lifting his gaze again, his heart beating in his throat while he waited for a reaction from the other man. 

“I like you too, you know”, James admitted after some silent moments had passed and John’s heart even started beating a little faster at that. 

“You do?”, he asked, almost in wonder.

James just nodded, probably not able to find any right words to say. 

“You said this isn’t a good time...?”, he let that sentence hang unfinished in the air, not sure what it meant. 

“Just...you went through some pretty bad shit and I...I’d understand if you…”, John was searching for words, actually blushing because all that he could say didn’t seem quite right. Eventually, he decided to just settle for the plain truth. 

“Today...all day...I just really wanted to kiss you. But I didn’t know if I...is it alright if I did...kiss you, I mean?”, he all but stammered, while James looked at him a little amused but also taken aback at the same time. 

Some seconds passed where neither of them said or did anything, they were just quietly staring into each other’s eyes. Then, after what felt like hours, James nodded lightly and put a hand on John’s jaw, pulling him closer. When their lips finally met, John’s heart almost skipped a beat and he gently pulled James even closer by the back of his neck, while kissing him lightly. Eventually they had to break apart to catch a breath, but they were still so close to each other, their noses were almost touching. John had a hand tangled in James’s soft ginger hair, while the other gently cupped his cheek and the side of his neck. 

“I want to come to Houston with you”, John whispered, sensing James’s warm breath on his skin which made him get goosebumps. 

“Okay”, James returned, just as quietly, smiling a little. “But let’s go to Boulder first, meet your friends.”

“Tomorrow”, John gave back, leaning in to give James another light kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, the end might be a little abrupt but I decided to leave it at that because I'd somehow like to write a sequel to this, eventually, when I got the time to, and so this left me the most options, I guess. And I hope that maybe also some of you guys would like to read more of this universe, I'd be really really happy if you did :)
> 
> btw I didn't really plan to include Royal George Bridge...I was just looking up some distances on Google Maps and then Canon City sounded fairly familiar to me, so I looked it up and read about that bridge, which I'd seen a documentary about just last week, which I found quite hilarious so I just put it in there xD

**Author's Note:**

> btw, Alex Honnold is an actual free solo climber, one of the best in the world, if you're any interested in extreme sports or climbing, check him out on Youtube, he is insane and I love him :D


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